Iran to Hold Major Air Defense Drill to Simulate Emergency Situations

Iran announced Saturday that it intends to hold a large scale military exercise in October, involving all its air defense systems.

Farzad Esmaili, commander of the Iranian Army’s Air Defense Force, said that the exercise would be a joint drill by the army and the Revolutionary Guard, and that it would simulate a large number of emergency scenarios.

Iran’s aerial defense systems have improved and today they are functioning “better than they did in the past,” said Esmaili. “The Army’s Air Defense Force and additional forces are taking the necessary actions against the possible threats from our enemies,” he said, without naming any country specifically.

The Chairman of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, said Friday that he does not believe Israel will carry out its threats to attack his country’s nuclear facilities.

“There’s no reason that we consider them [the Israelis] so stupid,” he told the Al Monitor website. “This is like committing suicide. We don’t think they will do it.”

Asked why he thinks Israel talks about such attacks “all the time,” Larijani replied: “It’s very clear. There’s a long time that Israel is in isolation after they were defeated in the 33 days War [between Israel and Hizbullah in Lebanon in 2006], which was heavy and devastating for them … and also the revolutions that happened in the region. Now they are in political isolation. Now Hosni Mubarak is gone … so they should say something to prove they still exist.”